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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23764462">Served Cold</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/floorcoaster/pseuds/floorcoaster'>floorcoaster</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Dubious Consent, F/M, Psychological Trauma</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 18:01:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Rape/Non-Con</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,481</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23764462</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/floorcoaster/pseuds/floorcoaster</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Revenge is a dish best served cold.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>2020 DBQ Round Two: Charms</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Served Cold</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">



        <li>In response to a prompt by
            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSlytherinCabal/pseuds/TheSlytherinCabal">TheSlytherinCabal</a>  in the  <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/collections/DBQ2020Round2">DBQ2020Round2</a>
          collection.
        </li>
    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me but are the property of J.K.R. and Warner Bros. No copyright infringement is intended. The theme for this round of the competition was Charms and my chosen pairing was Draco Malfoy/Katie Bell. Comments/Reviews are encouraged by The Slytherin Cabal's Admin Team on all stories in Death By Quill, but comments left by readers are set to be moderated by story authors until the end of the competition in order to protect participants' anonymity. Thank you to my beta for their time and help.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Katie had always thought of herself as the forgiving type. She’d forgiven Fred and George Weasley for hundreds of relatively harmless pranks over the six years they spent at school together and the four years as teammates on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. She’d forgiven Oliver Wood for the countless practices spent in the rain. She’d even managed to forgive Cho Chang for bringing Marietta Edgecombe to the clandestine meetings of Dumbledore’s Army in her sixth year.</p>
<p>But there was one person whom she hadn’t been able to even think about forgiving without her blood racing, her heart pounding, and a sick feeling creeping into her gut. </p>
<p>After being put under the Imperius Curse and nearly dying after touching a cursed necklace, she’d spent the rest of her seventh year skittish and afraid to be alone. She’d abjectly refused to set foot in the Three Broomsticks, and it was only with the prodding and company of her friends that she returned to Hogsmeade at all. </p>
<p>Despite the Headmaster’s insistence that she had not been the target of what had happened to her, she’d had a very hard time believing him and expected to be cursed at every turn. </p>
<p>It wasn’t until after Dumbledore’s death that she’d learned the truth. Draco Malfoy had been responsible, and the necklace had not, in fact, been intended for her. </p>
<p>Katie had spent the year after graduating Hogwarts in a strange place. She’d achieved her highest N.E.W.T. with an Outstanding in Transfiguration and had hoped to study under Professor McGonagall as an apprentice, but then the school had been taken over by Voldemort, and she hadn’t wanted to be anywhere near Hogwarts.</p>
<p>When she’d been summoned to Hogwarts to fight by Neville, she’d thought only of joining her friends in fighting against the Death Eaters. When they were all gathered in the Great Hall, when Voldemort announced that he would let everyone go if they gave up Harry, one lone Slytherin girl called out in support of this idea. When Katie, like everyone else, looked her way, she saw him. </p>
<p>Draco Malfoy had been sitting a few seats away from Pansy Parkinson, and Katie was struck with how changed he appeared. In her jaded memories of him, she saw a tall young man with a constant smirk and a haughty swagger. His antics on the Quidditch pitch were juvenile and petty. She’d once even given him a book he’d been searching for in the library before she’d known that he’d been the cause of her cursing. </p>
<p>That person was gone; he’d seemed to be trying to shrink in his seat, to disappear entirely. His expression had been horrified, his pale features stretched. Part of Katie had thrilled at seeing him so reduced. She’d felt so sure that he wouldn’t make it through the night. Looking at him, he appeared as though he might blow away at a very strong gust. </p>
<p>But he did make it through the night. </p>
<p>She followed his story with keen interest after the war. She kept up on all the news of his arrest and trial, even offering to testify about what had happened to her. At first, articles about him and his family were harsh, merciless, demanding justice for the wrongs perpetuated by the Malfoy family. As Draco’s trial neared, however, some were beginning to take a softer tone with the youngest member, much to Katie’s consternation. But she felt sure that, in the end, he would get what he deserved.</p>
<p>While he was found guilty of the attempted murder of three people, herself included, and of being a Death Eater, the Wizengamot failed her. They cited ‘extenuating circumstances’ and the testimony of none other than Harry Potter himself as reason for leniency. </p>
<p>He was given bloody house arrest for a year and community service. </p>
<p>She watched in the courtroom that day as Draco Malfoy was given a slap on the wrist for everything he’d done. She watched him smile at his parents, shake Potter’s hand, and walk out a free man. </p>
<p>After that, when the system designed to punish the evildoers of the world failed, something in her snapped. Every thought became consumed with him. The cut of his jaw. The scar on his neck. </p>
<p>But mostly she thought of revenge.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Katie knew that she could easily kill Draco Malfoy. It was merely a matter of access, and she had enough contacts that it would be no trouble at all to get to him. But ending his life was not her aim; she wanted to ruin him utterly. And so she decided she would play the long game, to wait, to plan and plot and hit him where it would most hurt when he’d least expect it.</p>
<hr/>
<p>She spent the whole of the following year preparing, and then, once he was released from house arrest, she put her plan into action. </p>
<p>It was really quite simple. She would work her way into Malfoy Industries and position herself to become indispensable to him. Draco Malfoy, so said the newspapers, was set to take over the company from his father, whose sentence before the Wizengamot had not been so lenient. Katie knew that Draco would need someone he could trust implicitly and she aimed to be that person. </p>
<p>And if she rigged the interview process, well, he would only be able to appreciate her ambition. </p>
<p>Once the position had been secured, she worked to fulfill her goal of making herself so much a part of his life that he couldn’t function without her. Draco was an intelligent young man, but he couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by the enormity of the responsibility thrust upon him at so young an age. She made sure to fill the gaps, to know the answers to his questions before he even had them, to search longer, harder, farther than anyone else to get him what he needed.</p>
<p>She learned his schedule: where he went and with whom, his medical appointments, how he spent his free time. She learned his preferences: how he took his tea, his favorite music genre, the books he liked to read. She studied him as though she were Michelangelo and he a slab of marble. </p>
<p>Despite how integral she’d become to his life, she’d never crossed the lines of professionalism. No, she was saving that particular tactic for something special she had planned. Though she couldn’t deny that she’d thought about it more than she cared to admit, not because she had any affection for him whatsoever, but because she wanted to make him beg. </p>
<p>For eight years, she quietly waited, making minor adjustments as needed and building her inventory of Ways to Hurt Draco Malfoy. Then, one day, the moment she’d been waiting for arrived.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Draco rushed out of his office, neatly dressed in a slim-fitting gray suit and white button-down shirt. His black shoes clopped hurriedly across the file floor as he made his way to Katie’s desk. “What do you think?” he asked, showing her a dark green tie. She was used to this sort of thing and promptly came around her desk to inspect his look. </p>
<p>“It’s an excellent choice, Sir.” Without asking she took the tie from him and threaded it around his neck, tucking it under his shirt collar and then tying it. “What’s the occasion, if you don’t mind me asking? I didn’t see anything on your calendar for this evening.”</p>
<p>She was surprised by the wide grin that spread on his face. </p>
<p>“I have a date.”</p>
<p>Her hands stilled for a fraction of a second as she felt her heart leap at his words. “Oh?” She resumed her task with more deliberation. “Who’s the lucky lady?”</p>
<p>“Hermione Granger.” </p>
<p>Katie finished her work with the tie and patted his chest as she turned away. “She’s quite the catch, they say. All the single men want to bone her, I hear.”</p>
<p>Draco’s cheeks turned slightly pink. “Yes, well, this is only our first date.”</p>
<p>She smiled encouragingly. “I wish you all the best, Mr. Malfoy. I’ll just finish up a few things here before I head home for the weekend.”</p>
<p>He flashed her a wide grin and hurried out of the office. Katie sat regally in her chair and folded her hands in her lap. Hermione Granger. She hadn’t seen that coming, but when she thought about it, she could understand. More importantly, she believed that Draco would fall irrevocably in love with Hermione. It would be a shame, really, what would happen, but Katie spared only a few moments in second thought. A sly grin appeared on her face as she set about putting her plan into action.</p>
<hr/>
<p>As predicted, Draco’s relationship with Hermione exploded. Katie sat back and watched as the pair weathered every storm sent their way. She was overflowing with joy and encouragement every time Hermione came to the office. </p>
<p>Then the wedding plans began, and Katie knew it was almost time. Hermione wanted a very short engagement, which threw Katie for a bit of a loop, but she sorted things out and got back on track. </p>
<p>One week before the wedding, her heart throbbing erratically from the anticipation, Katie sent the first packet.</p>
<hr/>
<p>When Draco came in the following day, two hours late, he looked terrible. His clothes were disheveled, his hair a mess, his eyes haunted, and he looked like he hadn’t slept at all the night before. </p>
<p>“Mr. Malfoy?” Katie asked in alarm, standing as he neared her desk. </p>
<p>He refused to meet her gaze or respond, instead stalking past her to his office, promptly shutting his door. </p>
<p>Katie slowly grinned.</p>
<p>Twenty minutes later, an alert went off, telling her that Hermione had entered the building. Katie cast a quick charm to rumple her clothes and muss her hair, then hurried down the hall to Draco’s office and poked her head in to ask if he needed anything. The office was dark and he had a bottle of scotch open on his desk. </p>
<p>He still wouldn’t look at her, just grumbled that no, he didn’t need anything from her.</p>
<p>She pulled his door shut just as Hermione appeared at the end of the hall. Katie made a show of adjusting her dress. “Miss Granger. I don’t think he’s expecting you. Shall I tell him you’re here?”</p>
<p>Hermione’s eyes were wide but Katie noticed that they were puffy and red, as though she’d been crying long and hard. A pang of… what was that—remorse? regret?—twinged against her resolve but she pushed it away. This was about Draco Malfoy, and she didn’t care much about collateral damage. </p>
<p>Hermione blinked rapidly, tears falling fresh and she turned and ran to the lift. </p>
<p>Katie submitted her resignation letter that afternoon with a suggestion for her replacement. Draco was so defeated he barely moved.</p>
<p>Two days later, an announcement was made in Witch Weekly that the much-anticipated Malfoy-Granger wedding was being postponed.</p>
<hr/>
<p>The next part of her plan required some inconvenience to herself. She’d purchased a wig made from human hair and used it to brew Polyjuice in preparation for this phase. When she introduced herself to Draco Malfoy as Sophia Henderson, he’d barely looked up. Her credentials spoke for themselves, and she had to adjust her work style so he wouldn’t think anything about her too familiar. But he was so wrecked that she didn’t think he’d notice if her skin was purple.</p>
<p>Katie watched as Draco dragged himself to therapy with Hermione for six months. She could tell that it wasn’t helping; his expression was vacant now, empty, and she’d begun to think that the first part of her plan had worked.  </p>
<p>Then they must have had a breakthrough, however, because he seemed suddenly lighter. Hermione started coming round the office again. He’d leave with her to have lunch and leave early to spend time with her. </p>
<p>Eventually, another date was set, and the shine had returned to Draco’s eyes. </p>
<p>“Sophia?” Draco asked hesitantly one Friday afternoon. “Um, which tie should I go with? I’m having dinner with Hermione and her parents tonight and I… I need to make the right impression.”</p>
<p>Katie knew that not many people knew why the wedding had been postponed. They’d kept things very hush-hush, as she’d expected. But surely Hermione’s parents knew the truth, and he was surely desperate to prove that his love for their daughter was true. </p>
<p>“The blue one, Sir,” she replied, going quickly back to her magazine. She didn’t help him put it on, as she’d once done. Sophia was <i>not</i> Katie. He mumbled his thanks and returned to his office, where she knew he would leave via Floo. Katie knew dinner would go well because Hermione was a kind and forgiving woman, and if Draco had convinced her of his loyalty, then she would support him completely.</p>
<p>With the wedding once again a week away, Katie sent another package.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Twice was all it took. </p>
<p>Hermione ended the engagement and left the country on an extended holiday with her parents.</p>
<p>Katie didn’t see Draco for a week after that, but she kept the office and the company running smoothly, deflecting inquiries about his absence with ease. </p>
<p>When he finally did show up at work again, he looked resigned. He’d worn freshly laundered clothes but he hadn’t shaved. His eyes were dull, and when they met hers, his cheeks turned pink. </p>
<p>“Are you still here?” he demanded from across the lobby.</p>
<p>“Pardon?” Katie asked.</p>
<p>“I would have thought you’d have had the decency to not be here when I returned. Haven’t you done enough?” He took two steps toward her desk, then stopped, torn between wanting to scream in her face and keep his distance. </p>
<p>Katie stood, her things already packed. “I’m not sure what you mean, sir.”</p>
<p>“Get out,” he growled, his face twisted in a snarl. “Never come back.”</p>
<p>She hid a smirk as she gathered her purse and light sweater, leaving the office without so much as a look back at him.</p>
<hr/>
<p>The second wig she bought she gave the name Gloria Trimble. </p>
<p>She couldn’t stay away; she had to watch Draco Malfoy completely fall apart. </p>
<p>And fall he did. </p>
<p>Katie did her work well, but not as well as Gloria as she had with Sophia. Not that Draco noticed; he was too busy disappearing and drinking himself through the day. </p>
<p>When, after two years, an announcement appeared in the Prophet stating that Hermione Granger had been married to Oliver Wood in a small, private ceremony on the beach in Marseille, she finally got her deepest desire. Draco Malfoy was so devastated that he ended up in St. Mungo’s with alcohol poisoning.</p>
<p>Katie waited until the Polyjuice had worn off before going to visit him. She wanted him to know it had been her.</p>
<p>He’d been placed in a Stasis Charm, magic coursing through his veins and clearing his blood of the offending substance. Katie made sure that no one would be coming to check on him as she climbed onto the bed, hiking her skirt up so that she could straddle him. She’d only had him those two nights, but they’d been absolutely unforgettable. Merlin, she wanted him again, just to see his face when he realized the truth. </p>
<p>She ground her hips against him and he groaned, his eyes fluttering open. Slowly, they fixed upon her, and his eyes widened. He couldn’t move because of the charm, but she could feel him straining to get away. </p>
<p>“Hello, Draco,” she said sweetly, innocently. “Have you missed me?”</p>
<p>Again, she felt the pulse of his magic pushing against her and she laughed. “It was all so tricky. Everything had to work together perfectly, but I’d spent years getting it right, Draco. Years. Do you want to know how I did it? How I worked to ruin your pathetic little life?”</p>
<p>Again his eyes widened, this time in horror. Despite the sedation he’d been under, he seemed to have realized what she was talking about. </p>
<p>Katie kissed him then, hard and unforgiving, unconcerned with his lack of response. His eyes flashed when she pulled away. Then she began unbuttoning her shirt, revealing the bright blue bra she’d been wearing when she’d seduced him as herself over three years before. She could tell that he recognized it from the pictures she’d sent Hermione. </p>
<p>“That night was one I’ve never forgotten, Draco. And I can see that you haven’t either.” She cocked her head to the side. “Although, it’s so complicated, isn’t it?” Then she leaned down, put her elbows on his chest and rested her chin in her hands. “I used a potion in your afternoon tea to seduce you, then used a few memory charms to plant a false memory in your mind, wherein you were an active participant in said seduction, designed to trigger when Hermione showed you the photos I sent her.” She chuckled. “I wish I could have been there for that conversation. You’d have denied everything, naturally, because you would never have slept with me, but then when you saw the photos… Wham!” She shouted and pushed back to a sitting position, startling him. “Suddenly, there’s this vivid memory of us shagging in your office.” She rolled her hips again, enjoying the power she held over him. </p>
<p>“And you couldn’t deny it. Somehow, she forgave you though and took you back. I don’t know how. So I returned to your office as Sophia.” She cackled at his furious expression. “And we did the whole thing over again.” Katie let out a moan exactly like those she’d made in his memories. “Oh, it’s just too bad that Hermione went and fell in love with someone else.”</p>
<p>Finally, somehow, he broke through the Stasis Charm enough that he could speak. “What the fuck!? Get off me, you raving lunatic!”</p>
<p>“Ah, ah, ah!” She waggled a finger in his face. “I need you to ask me why, Draco.”</p>
<p>He gritted his teeth. “Never.”</p>
<p>Katie pretended to pout. “Oh dear, one should never say never, you know. Now. Ask me why I did it.”</p>
<p>“Fuck you!” He shouted in her face.</p>
<p>“Oh, fine, I’ll tell you already.” She leaned back down so that she was very close to his face again and cast a Silencing Charm. “You ruined my life with that cursed necklace. Did you know? That necklace had lingering effects nobody knew about. Yes, I got better, but I wasn’t the same. And then, after I spent six months right here in this bloody hospital, I spent the rest of that year terrified of every shadow.” She paused, glancing off to the side as though a thought had struck her. “You know, in a way, learning it had been you was something of a relief at first. I knew where you were after that, so I no longer had to be afraid of everything.” She shook her head. “Yet I still was. Once the battle was over and I knew you’d been arrested, I breathed easily for the first time in almost two years. I watched your trial with joyful expectation, knowing they’d lock you away for life.”</p>
<p>She scowled and climbed off him, suddenly disgusted that she’d been touching him. She paced the room  in agitation before returning to his bed and getting in his face, eyes wild and thoughts dangerous. “But they didn’t, did they? Before I could blink, you were free. And that wasn’t right. I had to fix their mistake. I had to ruin your life, as you had ruined mine.” Her laugh was shrill, scaring even herself. “And I have. Your precious Hermione, the love of your life, is safely tucked away somewhere on the Continent, married to someone who isn’t you.”</p>
<p>Katie stood tall then, a triumphant expression on her face. She giggled with delight when she noticed tear-tracks running down Draco’s face. “I hope the rest of your life is completely miserable, Draco Malfoy! I—”</p>
<p>But Katie didn’t get to finish her thought. She was hit in the back with a spell and she fell face first to the floor. She cursed to herself, frantically trying to find a way out of whatever predicament she was in. </p>
<p>Someone turned her over, and she came face to face with Harry Potter.</p>
<p>“We heard everything, Katie.” He stood, a hard, horrified look in his eyes. “Good thing we were watching his room.” More people were surging into the room, but Katie could only stare forward. After binding her hands and removing her wand, Harry Silenced her and released the binding curse so that he could walk her out of the room. </p>
<p>As she was led to the Ministry, as she stood trial, as she was sentenced to life in Azkaban, her one hope, the single thought that filled her every waking, miserable moment, was that she had broken Draco Malfoy.</p>
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